Admissions

CASUAL IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS

If you would like your child to join our school, please contact the school office on 01634 270341 and we will send you a Casual Admission Form.   Alternatively, you can find the form below:

Once the form is complete, please send it by email to office@stjames.medway.sch.uk or post to:

Office Manager

St. James' Church of England Primary Academy

High Street

Isle of Grain

Rochester

Kent

ME3 0BS

YEAR R ADMISSIONS

Admissions to our Year R class between August and December each year are processed by Medway Council Admissions Team.  Please contact them on 01634 306000.

For admissions any other time of the year, please follow the procedure for Casual In-Year Admissions.

OVERSUBSCRIPTION

If the number of preferences received via the co-ordinated scheme is more than 30, places will be offered in the following priority order:

• Looked After Children  (as defined by the Medway coordinated admission scheme) “looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted”.

• Regular Church attendance, where the child or at least one parent/carer is a regular worshipper (the level of attendance should be at least once a month) at a church affiliated to, or represented at “Churches Together in England” or the “Evangelical Alliance” and has been for at least 12 months prior to the application being made.

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these Reception September 2023 admission arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.

Note: If oversubscribed, at least 50% of the places available each year will be allocated without reference to any faith-based criteria.

• Current family association – brother or sister at school at the time of admission. The definition of this includes stepbrothers and sisters and children living as a family unit.
• Children of teaching staff – the member of teaching staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time the application is made. Or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
• Child’s health reasons – medical evidence must be provided which demonstrates a specific health reason that requires a child to attend the preferred school.
• Nearness of children’s homes to the school. Distance will be measured by the shortest route to school from the child's home address using roads and paths that are known to the graphical information software (GIS) utilised by the Local Authority. Distances are measured from a point defined as within the child’s home to a point defined as within the school as specified by Ordnance Survey. The same address point on the school site is used for everybody. The school uses the measurements provided by the Local Authority (LA) and further information on how distances are calculated is available in the Admissions Booklet provided by the LA. In the case of distances from flats, the school will use the process defined below. If a child has more than one permanent home address, the nearest will be used for admission purposes.